


Guardian Angel

by aceofhearts88



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ghosts, M/M, however you wanna see it, or Angels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-25
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 19:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10726098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofhearts88/pseuds/aceofhearts88
Summary: Sam had to watch him fall.Now, Riley got to watch over him and watch him fall in love again.





	Guardian Angel

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pizzadog20](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pizzadog20/gifts).



> Happy Birthday to a beautiful amazing person!

"Was that....was that Captain America?"

Riley made a double take, blinking his eyes and then narrowing them to stare ahead at the figure that had lapped them just now with a cheeky 'on your left'. Like a hurricane, come and gone before you could have even noticed.

"What the hell, Sam, I think that was Captain America."

But Sam didn't answer him, just kept on running down the sidewalk as if it was a daily occurence to be lapped by someone looking like Adonis. Only Riley knew him better and could see the surprise in his eyes, the barely there curl of his lips.

Though of course Sam wouldn't answer.

Sam hadn't heard him in a long time now. It had been years since they had last talked, years since Sam had last been able to look and smile at Riley.

Riley was dead.

Riley was just a ghost.

A guardian angel sent back to earth to protect which was dearest to him, the man he had loved with all of his heart for what felt like his entire life.

"Oh god, here he comes again. Holy shit, he is fast." Riley commented, running backwards without trouble, ghostly spirits and coordination be thanked for it, "Brace yourself, man, that smirk is not promising anything good."

"On your left." The blond man called out and went flying by again, Riley rolled his eyes.  
"Uh huh. On my left. Got it." Sam replied a tad bit too late, blond speed racer already too much ahead of them.  
"Captain America is playing a game with you. I can't believe it." Riley snorted and turned around once more to keep on running along next to Sam.

A few minutes later, he could hear Captain America approaching once more and he leaned closer to Sam to issue a warning that would be left unheard.

"Don't say it. Don't you say it!" Sam had nevertheless heard the footsteps approaching as well and was calling out a warning on his own.  
"On your left." Steve Rogers laughed almost and went swooshing by for the third time, Riley was left laughing for real, pushing himself a little forward as Sam went for a sprint.

"Come on!!"

"Na, man, forget it. He is too fast, even for you." Riley chuckled and watched how Sam cursed after his little sprinting made his thighs burn too much to go on. "Come on, buddy, get stretching or you'll regret it." Sam grunted and mumbled some more choice words under his breath before walking over to the meadow with the trees where he always stretched after his run before jogging home.

Riley followed him, smiling to himself over Sam's sudden grumpy mood, "Come on, cheer up, you've just been teased by Captain freaking America." He tried and threw himself onto the grass, turning his face into the sun he couldn't feel. 

\--

And then Rogers approached Sam with a smile on his face.

\--

"It's your bed, right?" Sam asked and Riley popped open his eyes, jumping to his feet when he saw that that question coming out of Sam's mouth had Rogers turning around again where he had already been half stepping away again. Having previously listened to their little bickering with closed eyes and a grin on his face, Riley turned it into staring at Sam now.  
"Okay, this takes the cake. What the fuck, Sam?" He swooshed through the tree to stand in front of Sam again to be able to see his face, "Your bed? Holy shit, man, you can't just ask Captain America after his bed." He spluttered and missed Captain Rogers' reaction while doing so. 

And then Sam started talking about his sleeping habits and sleeping troubles and Riley slapped a hand to his face, of all the things he could possibly be talking with this man, and he chose beds. How to freak out Captain America in five steps or less, he thought to himself but then got the surprise of a lifetime when Rogers joined right in.

"Lying on a marshmallow, I feel like I'm gonna sink right down to the floor." He finished the sentence Sam had been about to make and they shared a long look, Riley gaped at both of them and then grinned. Grinned so bright his face nearly hurt. Rogers understood, he got it, he really got it. 

"Sammy, say something, quick. This is gold, you do not let this guy walk away like this. Say something!" But Riley's begging was interrupted when it was Rogers who continued the conversation.

"How long?" He wanted to know, looking serious even if his eyes were smiling.  
"Two tours." Sam answered quick, but he was relaxed and loose, no signs of nerves anywhere but his eyes, those were freaking out in happy giddiness. "You must miss the good old days, huh?" He went on and Rogers looked away for a second, but only a second, then he was right back to drinking in every emotion written onto Sam's handsome face.

Riley wanted popcorn.

"Well, things aren't so bad. Food's a lot better. We used to boil everything." Rogers pointed out and there was at least half a joke hidden in it, Sam certainly found it funny enough to brighten his brilliant smile even more.

"What am I even watching here?" Riley muttered with disbelief running through his veins.

"No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading that a lot, trying to catch up." Steve Rogers explained and looked as if he was so incredibly joyful over someone finally talking to him like normal people did.  
"Oh my god, this guy is adorable." Riley chuckled and turned his head to catch sight of Sam's view again and he had to laugh as he saw the smirk growing, "Here comes it. I can still read you like a book. Wait for it, Troubleman Soundtrack."

"Marvin Gaye. 1972, Troubleman Soundtrack." Sam smiled at Rogers who pulled out an actual pocket sized notebook, jesus christ, the guy was too good, "Everything you missed, jammed into one album." Sam summarized and Riley rolled his eyes.

"Fucking knew it."

"I'll put it on the list." Rogers replied like a puppy thrilled over having made his new friend smile so bright.

\--

"Are you flirting with Steve Rogers?"

"Anytime you wanna stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk. Just let me know." Sam grinned and Riley scoffed at him.  
"How, Sam? How?" He wanted to know in exasperation, "Did you slip him your number while I wasn't looking? Or do you want to be put through a background check by those Shield goonies just for Rogers to get your phone number?" He joked and still raised an eyebrow at the playful teasing grin on Sam's face.

"I'll keep it in mind." Rogers said and he was grinning just as glowingly, cocky smile and twinkling eyes, and Riley was left gaping again.  
"Oh my god, he is flirting with you. And you totally slipped him your number while I wasn't looking!" He called out after another short moment, so desperately wishing he could slap Sam on the back, "So proud of you, buddy."

And then he watched happy and fulfilled for the moment how Sam and Rogers said goodbye as the black sleek car approached with the Black Widow behind the wheel. And the look Rogers sent to Sam before the car drove off, it was certainly not innocent.

\--

"You know we have the same hair and eye colors." Riley noted as he was lounging on the patio chair while Sam did some more stretches upon returning home, "I would say you have a type, but who am I to judge you on that. Don't let that man escape your grasp, Sam, you deserve good things, too."

\--

At the open VA meeting a few days later, Riley held himself in the background as always, so happy and filled with joy to see Sam help others, to let their stories and experiences help him along still as well. 

He didn't spot Rogers leaning in the open doorway right away, but when he did he spent a good amount of time watching every single look in those blue eyes, every twitch of lips and chin. It was obvious that the guy was not as lost as the media kept on making him out to be, Riley had no doubt that they were hopelessly exaggerating. 

But he wasn't happy either. There was weight on his shoulders. And in some way, Riley recognized that weight only too well from the man he still carried in his heart. The weight of wanting to do good, of wanting to see the people they cared about be happy even if it risked their own happiness.

He followed Sam out of the room after the meeting had ended and leaned against a table as Sam approached Rogers.  
"Well, if it isn't the Running Man." He began with a smile, Riley could see that he really was happy and excited to see the blond.   
"I saw the last few minutes, it was intense." Rogers nodded over to the meeting room and Sam followed his line of sight, smiling at the people talking among each other.

"Yeah, we all got the same problems. Guilt, regret." And Riley closed his eyes upon Sam's words, fought against the urge to slip away, he had spent so much time already seeing those two way too powerful emotions written all over Sam's beautiful face. Too beautiful to be marred by guilt or regret. There was no guilt to be had, it had been an accident.

"You lose someone?" Rogers read the emotions all correctly, of course he would, he of all people would understand. Riley looked at him, and then back at Sam, wondered if this was the breaking point, where casual turned into sincere. One last step needed to become friends, Rogers needed them, it was plain as day in his eyes, the longing for friendship, to have someone he could trust, someone to hang out with.

Someone who understood.

And though Sam hadn't kept himself holed up anymore so much in the last year, he still could very much use a friend himself. Someone to lean on when the demons caught up with him again. Someone to bicker with, hell, even someone to flirt with, he deserved the happiness, the joy and the laughter so much after everything he had been through.

"My wingman, Riley." And as always, his name spoken in Sam's voice made Riley's heart flutter, even dying hadn't changed it one bit. "Fly in the night mission. A standard PJ rescue op, nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before, till a RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky."   
"Yeah, dumb ass, thanks for that, idiot." Riley muttered and saw how despite the sympathetic sadness Rogers still smiled as Sam opened up to him.   
"Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch." Sam spoke those thrice cursed words that Riley hated, because it meant Sam still blamed himself, no matter how much he could smile while saying them nowadays.

"I'm sorry." Rogers said and meant it, felt it just as much as Sam did, and Riley could see that Sam understood as well, smiling bigger. And Riley made the quick decision to slip away for a while, curiosity and unfair advantages didn't mean he had to look over Sam every single minute of every single day, he deserved some privacy as well. Because as much as Steve Rogers was becoming a friend, he was becoming something else as well and Riley only wanted Sam to be happy.

\--

Days passed normally again after that, or as normal as they could with Sam texting back and forth with Rogers whenever there was a beep on his phone. And Riley found himself feeling lighter than he already was, because Sam was smiling again almost all the time, he was singing to himself more in the kitchen.

Sam was crushing hard.

And it was perfect and adorable, he was so happy.

So of course it was then that he would send Riley into heart attacks again.

He was staring with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as Sam casually grabbed the file of the Exo-Falcon program from where it had been resting up in the closet. For good. Riley had thought it had rested there for fucking good. He had to watch as Sam carried it over into the kitchen and set it down on the table, just half an hour after Steve Rogers and the effing Black Widow had turned up on his doorstep telling him that they needed shelter from the people trying to kill them and oh my god, Sam.

"You cannot be serious!" Riley exclaimed loud enough to have his own ears ringing, but of course no one would hear him, and he didn't care how Rogers looked at Sam now as he saw the contents of the file, he didn't care how all casual the bloody Widow shrugged her shoulders as Sam oh so casually explained where the wings were being kept.

Riley's ears were ringing. Riley's chest was on fire. His heart was pounding and his breaths were coming too fast, and all he could see was Sam up in the air again, up in the air and falling as Riley had.

He didn't even process anything anymore until Sam was alone in his bedroom, getting dressed and getting ready to go out with Steve freaking Rogers and Natasha fucking Romanov to get his wings from where they had been hidden away because the program had been cut.

It had ended.

It had been benched because Riley had died.

"You promised me." Riley whispered then and there as Sam grabbed a shirt from his closet, "You promised me." He didn't even have the energy left to yell or to get loud, he was so scared and so terrified. "You stood there in front of my casket and you promised me it was over, Sam." And right there in front of him now Sam paused in taking off his shirt, eyes flickering over to the picture frame on his nightstand.

"Yes, look at us!" Riley pushed on, stepping over to said picture, "Look at us, two idiots who wanted nothing more than to fly, who thought the world was at their feet. We know better now, you more than me. You promised me to not get up there anymore, you promised me no more flying, no more tours if I wasn't there to watch your back." And Sam actually stopped what he was doing entirely, hands falling away from his shirt, eyes going to the other picture of them on his dresser.

"I told you I wouldn't do it anymore." Sam even spoke up as if he had heard him, walking over to the dresser and picking up the picture of them, taken by Darlene about a year before Riley had fallen. "Not without you watching my back. But what if I found someone who could." And Riley stared at him, opening his mouth twice before snapping it close again until he could finally speak.

"Seriously? You've known the guy for like a week! And right now, I really don't give the slightest damn anymore on who he is. Captain America or not, he is just human." Riley argued into the void, in front of him Sam smiled down at the picture, his thumb gently stroking over what Riley knew would be their intertwined hands. "Is he really worth it, Sam? Do you really trust him that much?"  
"He's worth it, Riles. I can feel it, I can feel that this is the right thing to do. I promised you that I would never put on the wings again without you there to do it with me, because I never thought I would find someone I could trust as much as I trusted you."

"But now you did."

"But now I have." Sam unknowingly echoed Riley's words, setting the picture back onto the dresser before taking off his running shirt and reaching for a new one, "It's ridiculous, we only know each other a week but I feel like I can really trust Steve. I'll get back home, I always do. But do you really think I could sit on my ass now, knowing about Hydra and Shield? People could die, Riley, I can't just sit back if I can do more."

"If you die, I will find a way to bring you back to life just so I can haunt you for all eternity. Rogers included." Riley growled and then decided to give himself a moment to breathe instead of watching how Sam got ready.

\--

"Sam...my love, my darling love, someone just ripped the steerig wheel out of your car and now we're stuck in a shootout on a public highway against what seems to be Hydra agents. I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you so." Riley ranted as he rushed after Sam who flipped up a knife and went for the guy with the biggest rifle, "That was such a damn nice car, too."

\--

"You just kicked a guy with a metal arm right in the head. Times have truly changed." Riley deadpanned as he sat on the car next to which Sam was leaning against with the wings refolded again, watching with horrified eyes as the smoke cleared and the guy who had attacked them was gone. Rogers was standing in the middle of the street, white as a sheet, and Riley could see Sam looking over to him then, eyes wide as well.

"Did I miss something?"

And then of course black armoured vehicles came racing closer with sirens blaring and black clad agents streamed out before the cars were even still standing. Two of them descended on a still frozen Rogers, forcing him down on his knees, gun to his temple. Sam unarmed himself quite on his own, and went onto his knees before the agents running for him had even come close in any way.

Riley sighed.

And then screamed.

\--

"So this is cozy." Riley commented and stretched out on the bottom of the car that was used to transport Hydra's newest prisoners to god knows where. "I don't even know if I'm supposed to be angry or scared. Promises to come home are broken as well when it's prison, I hope you're aware of that, Sammy-boy." He spoke through gritted teeth and glanced up at Sam whose eyes were switching between Rogers staring into empty space and muttering something about people who knew him and didn't know him, and the Widow who clearly was in pain from the gunshot wound on her shoulder.

"That doesn't look good by the way, she needs help, Pararescuer Wilson." 

And as Sam was pointing out the same not a moment later, some things happened again that Riley would have not expected.  
"Okay, what's going on now?" Riley wanted to know in alarm as one of the guards turned on the other and then pulled off the helmet, revealing the face of a brunet woman, "Who is this now?"

\--

"Why do I am developing the feeling that somehow I am not in the loop with things somehow? I know I can easily get distracted but do I really suck so bad at this guardian angel thing?" Riley grumbled as he looked around the cave they were being led into. "What the fuck is going on, Sam?"

\--

"Okay, so, we're not only bringing down one secretive organization but two? Sure. Sounds great. Nothing more pleasant than that. Sam, I'm going back on my words, befriending Vivian sounds like a great idea suddenly. Or how about the guy from the coffeeshop? Anything and anyone but getting involved with this."

\--

'Look, whoever he used to be and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop.'

"I can see what you're thinking about right now, you know." Riley mused as Sam dragged a hand down his face, his hands shaking slightly as he dropped it back down to his side, standing in the old damp corridor that left from the dam bridge towards the hidden staircase of the bunker. "You're thinking about what you would have done if it had been me. And you gotta stop. Right now. We both know you would have done everything in your powers and beyond to bring me back."

Sam sighed and closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the cold wall.

"Keep your head in the game, Sam, I have a feeling we need to be very very careful now." Riley pointed out and then blew out a loud breath, "How do you get yourself into these situations anyway. You make friends and within a week you're throwing yourself into trouble for them. God, remember how we became friends back when we were kids?" He thought back to times long gone by, how that tall kid had come along and saved him from the bullies and then told him that they were gonna be best friends. 

"You got the wings back, Sam. You've given me a heart attack already and I just know that soon enough you will proceed to give me so many more that I won't be able to count them. But you will do good, you will fight for the right thing. I know it hurt too much to keep going, and trust me, I was so happy to know that you had laid down the wings. You deserved to be happy, you still do, and the wings brought nothing but pain. But now?" Riley mused and leaned against the wall next to Sam, "Sammy, I think those wings can make you happy again. If you get out of this with all your limbs attached."

Footsteps entered the corridor from the exit door, ending Riley's very onesided pep talk and both of them looked up to catch sight of a sheepish looking Steve Rogers with a hand rubbing the back of his neck. 

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you." He began and Sam gave a faint smile, Rogers slowly walked closer, "I just want to get him out of that hell, do you understand?"  
"I do." Sam pointed out just as quietly, reaching up with one hand to squeeze Rogers' shoulder once the blond was close enough, "I really get it, okay? But I still want you to be careful, this guy is dangerous and we're walking into enemy controlled territory."

"We've both done that before."

"Yeah, but not on American soil and even less so right in the heart of our capital against people in our own government."

"You're a spoilsport."

"You're a jerk, Rogers."

And as they walked back to the staircase that would lead them back down to the bunker where the others were gearing up already, Riley watched them leave with a smile on his face and the nervousness over having to see Sam throw himself into danger again lightened a bit.

"They're gonna be okay." He told himself and believed in it, too.

\--

Everything that happened after that turned into a nightmare for Riley.

Standing by, having to watch, not able to do anything but just watch, it was maddening. 

He had always loved to watch Sam fly, and did now as well, but it was bittersweet when he wasn't up there as well. Sam kicked ass effortlessly, fought because he knew it was the right thing, and those wings still belonged to him, he knew and treated them as the additional limbs they had been trained to see them as.

Riley remained silent throughout it all, too afraid that a single word pushing itself to Sam's subconsciousness might distract his focus. He worked together with Steve without trouble, it fit, it really fit together perfectly almost, it brought Riley a little bit of relief.

Until they had to divide their paths and Sam got into the hands of the Winter Soldier, and the bastard ripped off wing and kicked him off the helicarrier.

That was what a second death felt like.

Riley screamed then, screamed to use the parachute until he was hoarse and Sam was safely gliding back down again. The second Sam's feet touched the ground, Riley could breathe again.

Of course then Sam volunteered to go after one of the super bad guys.

\--

"Okay, why are we going after the Strike agent with the Hydra beliefs and the face of someone who is asshole because he breathes douchebag and evil supervillain?" Riley demanded to know as he looked around what had probably been an open office face, standing behind Sam watching the door like a hawk.

The door behind which this guy called Rumlow by the brunet woman was approaching.

Sam greated the bastard with his fist.

"This is going to hurt." This Rumlow guy boasted, actually taking off his jacket, as if there was some weird new ritual to fist fights that Riley had missed out on in the afterlife, "There are no prisoners with HYDRA. Just order. And order only comes with pain. You ready for yours?"  
"Man, shut the hell up!" Riley and Sam said almost at the same time, rolling their eyes in sync, as if that game would impress them still, there had been way too many cocky assholes in the army. Sam and Riley had left them all in the dust without even moving a single finger. And then the fighting began.

"Sam, you gotta look up!" Riley yelled and ignored both men flickering through him as they traded punches and flung each other over desks, "Sam, you gotta look up! RIGHT NOW!" He really didn't have eyes for Sam fighting off a guy who loved punching more than sex probably, because there was a real danger approaching way way too fast. "SAMUEL WILSON! LOOK THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW!"

Thankfully, Sam did in fact look up then and caught sight of the helicarrier rushing towards the building they were in. Turning on the spot, Sam began to run and Riley raced after him.

"What are you planning on doing? Jumping out of the building?...Oh no, you won't! Sam! SAM!"

\--

"I'm still angry at you, just so you know. You jumped from a fucking building." Riley whispered, leaning against the wall in the small quiet hospital room. He kept on switching between looking out of window, over to the still smoking remains of the Triskelion in the distance, and Sam sitting on the chair next to the hospital bed, calmly reading while the Troubleman Soundtrack played in the background.

"Just think of everything that could have gone wrong. God, Sam." He sighed and turned to fully have Sam in his line of sight. "You looked fucking badass for every second of it, but please don't ever make my heart stop like that. I can't actually do something to change fate." Riley mumbled and then pushed himself off the wall, he walked over to Sam and crouched down before him, rested ghostly hands on Sam's knees. "I'm just here to watch, buddy. And you know how much that can hurt and how frustrating and scary it can be. But I also know you're not going to just turn your back on all of this again." Riley went on, looking up at Rogers' still form on the hospital bed.

"I can see what is happening here, you know, and that is the only reason on why I am not currently freaking out over not being able to stop you." He said quietly, rubbing a thumb over Sam's left kneecap, "It's been like barely two weeks but he can make you happy. And I think he needs someone now, he needs a friend, Sam, he needs you." Sam stopped reading in that moment and looked up, Riley felt his breath catch in his throat when it seemed as if Sam was looking right at him.

But of course he hadn't suddenly developed the ability to reach into the strings of fate and pull on them, maybe in a decade or two.

For now, all he could do was hope that his words sometimes reached Sam's subconsciousness.

Still, he reached up and curled a hand around Sam's face, and maybe he didn't feel it in that moment but he still remembered how it would feel.   
"I just want you to remember that you deserve the world, Sam. Happiness and respect and good things. I will never stop loving you, but you got to live, too. Live and love, and if that includes superhero business now, then so be it." He told Sam and saw the small smile that bloomed on the face he still considered to belong to the most beautiful man in the world. "But please never forget that you matter, too, that you deserve to be happy, too."

He stopped then as he caught sight of Rogers moving out of the corner of his eyes and he actually had to smile when Rogers mumbled a quiet "On your left" and ripped Sam out of his thoughts. For a moment they just looked at each other and Riley got back to his feet, taking a few steps back.

"If you don't kiss him now, Sam, I swear..." 

He didn't need to finish his sentence though because Sam was already standing up and leaning over Rogers, asking him if he was in pain, if he could do anything. Rogers was beaming, despite his beat up face, and he reached up with the hand attached to the IV line, curled it around Sam's face in a mirror gesture of what Riley had done only seconds before.

"You two will be good for each other, just make sure to keep each other alive, too."

And then Sam was leaning down and Riley felt his non-existent heartbeat flutter in contentment when Rogers and him were kissing.

"I got a good feeling about this."

\--


End file.
